News
Outbound containers from 18 countries and regions in Asia to the U.S. increased 2.9% from the previous calendar year to 15,154,555 TEUs in 2015, according to a report released recently by the Japan Maritime Center (JMC). Enjoying a year-on-year improvement for the sixth consecutive year, exports from Asia to the U.S. exceeded the 15-million-TEU line for the first time, setting a new record.
By commodity, thanks to the favorable number of housing starts in the U.S. last year, furniture and other household goods (registering a contribution ratio of 0.6%), fibers and fiber products (0.4%), toys (0.3%) and flooring materials, blinds and other plastic products (0.3%), among others, notably contributed to the year-on-year increase in the movement of eastbound containers.
Looking at the yearly total by origin, exports from China enjoyed the largest share, growing 2.1% year on year to 9,844,886 TEUs, said the report, which had been complied from statistical data provided by Port Import/Export Reporting Service (PIERS) of America. They increased from a year earlier in terms of volume for four years in a row, but in terms of growth, they slowed down from 2014. China was followed by Vietnam, which shipped 805,369 TEUs to the U.S., surging 14.9% and marked a double-digit improvement for four consecutive years. Containers from South Korea came in third place, which rose 3.6% to 774,436 TEUs. Exports from Japan finished in fourth, which declined 3.8% to 631,103 TEUs, suffering a decrease for the first time in two years. They just accounted for 4.2%, holding the smallest share in their history. Fifth place was taken by those from Taiwan, which climbed 4.8% to 623,018 TEUs.
By shipping line, Evergreen Line was the leading carrier, which boasted a share of10.41% of the overall container throughput. The Taiwanese firm enlarged its share for four consecutive years. Maersk Line of Denmark came in second place, accounting for 8.8%. Responsible for 7.39%, Hanjin Shipping of South Korea stepped up from fourth to third place.
